Walker and Tomori partnership shows promise as Milan hold firm in derby | Nicky Bandini

Sérgio Conceição said last week that he was sick and tired of this transfer window. “A month is far too long,” he argued. “It has not been positive on an emotional level for many of our players.”

The counter-point arrived in the Milan derby on Sunday night. Starting at right-back for the Rossoneri was Kyle Walker, signed on loan from Manchester City a fortnight after he had informed the Premier League champions of his desire for a move. He was outshone on his debut by the man inside him at centre-back, Fikayo Tomori, who has spent this entire window being linked with transfers elsewhere.

The second half was a different story. Inter’s superior quality and depth of options off the bench were brought to bear as they opened a siege on Milan’s goal, hitting the woodwork three times as well as having a goal correctly disallowed – something that had already happened twice in the first half.

Right up to the 93rd minute, it appeared as though this was going to be Milan’s evening. They had ridden their luck but also defended assiduously. Walker was more solid than spectacular, but that felt a welcome enough change from the Emerson Royal rollercoaster that has preceded him. Tomori was everywhere, keeping track even with the electric Marcus Thuram. His six tackles were the most of anyone on the pitch.

A man of the match performance and easily his best of the season so far. Did Walker play some part? The latter spoke at his unveiling about needing, and wanting, to learn Italian, but here at least he was able to communicate easily with a new teammate.

As tempting as it is to get swept up in a narrative, more evidence is needed before we draw conclusions about their effectiveness together. This was a particular evening: a Milan derby that did not quite feel like one at the start. Police banned Ultras from putting on their usual choreographies amid an ongoing investigation into the alleged criminal ties of some members of organised supporter groups in the city.

Perhaps that absence contributed to the stodgier first half, that partially subdued energy of the stands reflected on the pitch. Or maybe those things were unrelated. Certainly, by the end it had become a full-blooded affair, Inter throwing themselves at Milan with ever-greater desperation, their manager, Simone Inzaghi, kicking holes in an advertising hoarding after seeing one too many shots come back off the post.

Inter felt aggrieved not to have been given a penalty when Hernández and Pavlovic combined to dispossess Thuram, the former getting the ball but his teammate appearing to catch the Inter forward’s ankle. But they would find their equaliser in injury time, the substitute Nicola Zalewski – a new signing of their own – chesting down a cross for Stefan de Vrij to finish.

It was a draw that suited nobody, Milan losing ground in the race for fourth while Inter dropped two points in the title race – though another last-gasp equaliser for Roma against Napoli later that evening preserved the status quo at the top. Inzaghi’s team can pull level with Antonio Conte’s if they beat Fiorentina on Thursday, in the resumption of a match suspended after the collapse of Edoardo Bove in December.

Milan are further adrift of their objectives, eighth in the table and potentially seven points off the Champions League spots if Lazio win their game against Cagliari on Monday night. They are moving aggressively in these final days of the window, having also added Santiago Giménez for €35m from Feyenoord and continuing to work on a loan deal for João Félix.

Conceição has had mixed results since opening his tenure by beating Juventus and Inter in the Supercoppa. A win and a draw in two derbies so far are more than most fans would have hoped for, but the midweek defeat to Dinamo Zagreb – which cost Milan automatic progress to the last 16 of the Champions League – felt like confirmation of the warning signs we had seen in their come-from-behind win over Parma the previous weekend.

Milan’s owners hope this string of high-profile signings to close out the transfer window can set their team on a more consistent track. At least one new arrival believes that they will. “An honour to make my Milan debut today,” wrote Walker in a social media post. “Frustrating not to take all 3 points, but I’m confident we’ve got plenty more to come.”